February 21, 2016

Utility examines western Japan reactor after coolant leak

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160221/p2g/00m/0dm/038000c

February 21, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)

FUKUI (Kyodo) -- Kansai Electric Power Co. on Sunday began looking into the cause of a radioactive coolant water leak at a reactor at the Takahama nuclear power plant in western Japan the previous day.

The utility has suspended preparation work for the restart of Takahama's No. 4 reactor, scheduled for late February, pending an assessment of the small leak. An official from the operator declined to say whether the accident may affect the resumption schedule.

Kansai Electric said Saturday an estimated 34 liters of coolant water leaked within a building attached to the No. 4 reactor, containing a radioactivity level below that which is needed to be reported to the state.

The utility said the leak does not affect the environment.

The company has already finished loading nuclear fuels into the No. 4 reactor at the plant in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast.

The No. 3 reactor at the same plant resumed operation Jan. 29, becoming the third reactor to be reactivated under stricter safety rules set after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The government is pushing ahead with nuclear plant restarts after all of the country's 48 reactors were shut down for safety reviews following the Fukushima accident.

The state is looking to generate at least 20 percent of Japan's overall electricity via nuclear power by 2030, despite public opposition to nuclear power remaining strong since the disaster at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant.

Radioactive water leak found at Takahama No. 4 reactor, posing restart delay

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/02/21/national/radioactive-water-leak-found-takahama-no-4-reactor-discovery-delay-restart/#.VsmIH-aDmov

JIJI, AFP-JIJI

FUKUI – Kansai Electric Power Co. has found a puddle of radioactive water inside an auxiliary building at the Takahama nuclear plant’s No. 4 reactor — an announcement that could throw a wrench into plans to reboot the unit later this month.

The Fukui Prefectural Government’s nuclear safety division said the leak, announced by the utility Saturday, did not affect the environment.

“Resumption procedures have been suspended in light of the incident because we are still investigating the cause,” a Kepco spokesman said.

The suspension could affect the reactivation timetable.

According to the company, an alarm went off after the utility injected water into a pipe connected to the No. 4 reactor’s first cooling system at around 3:40 p.m. Saturday. Water was found dripping from two valves on a coolant water filter in the auxiliary building, and the radioactivity of the resulting 8-liter puddle was 14,000 becquerels.

Judging from other traces on the floor, roughly 34 liters were leaked overall, amounting to about 60,000 becquerels.

The No. 4 reactor is 30 years old and has idle for more than 4½ years since being taken offline in July 2011 for a scheduled checkup. That’s longer than the No. 3 reactor, which was reactivated in January, and reactor Nos. 1 and 2 at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which were rebooted last year.

All four reactors have cleared the stiffer safety requirements set up after the March 2011 triple core meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s poorly protected Fukushima No. 1 plant, which is now defunct.

In December, the Fukui District Court overturned an injunction on restarting the two Takahama reactors that had been brought by residents who said their safety had not been proven, despite being greenlighted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

In Kagoshima, the two Sendai reactors were restarted in August and October 2015, ending a two-year hiatus.